Menthol therapy is a unique type of therapy that uses essential oils to treat certain conditions and maladies. Menthol is extracted from the root of peppermint, which grows in the Mediterranean region. The oil is distilled into a fine solution and used for several purposes, including the treatment of oral malodor and chronic sinusitis. The oil has been widely embraced by the medical community for its positive effects on a number of conditions, but is perhaps best known for being effective in the treatment of halitosis (bad breath.)
Because of this, many people have sought alternative remedies for bad breath, using anything from mints and mouthwashes to toothpaste and herbal suppositories. While these remedies may work for some people, they are far from ideal. They usually don’t provide the kind of deep cleaning and thorough cleaning that menthol delivers. But it’s certainly no bad thing – if you suffer from chronic bad breath, you’ll love menthol.
Menthol is used in a few different ways. It can be found in toothpaste or throat lozenges, and some people find it helpful as a mouthwash. But perhaps its most important use is as a treatment for bad breath. No other natural substance provides such deep cleansing and thorough cleansing as does menthol.
Many experts believe that oral bacteria are the cause of most bad breath problems. Because of this, it is believed that by reducing the number of oral bacteria in your mouth, you can kill off the cause of bad breath. And it is often recommended that people with halitosis to try to reduce the number of anaerobes – bacteria that live in the absence of oxygen – in their mouths.
This is where menthol comes in. Because of its bitter taste, menthol can be administered sublingually (under the tongue) to reach the anaerobic bacteria. This oral form of therapy is particularly well suited to people who have a problem with memory loss or Alzheimer’s disease because the menthol appears to calm the brain and so creates an amelioration of the memory and thinking processes.
In addition to inhibiting the growth of oral anaerobic bacteria, menthol also kills off some of the immune system’s response to foreign material in the mouth. By causing the immune system to make antibodies against the offending bacteria, it not only prevents bad breath but also eliminates the need to produce more of the offending sulfur compounds, which produce the odor. This effect can go a long way toward curing chronic halitosis. For most people, however, the reduction of the offensive smell will not be sufficient to resolve chronic bad breath.
To solve chronic bad breath, many dentists combine the oral application of a special whitening agent with the administration of a low dose of antibiotics. The anti-bacterial agent (carbamide peroxide) kills the anaerobic bacteria that are harbored in the deep roots of the teeth and in the gum tissue. Once dead, the bacteria can no longer grow in the presence of the carbamide peroxide and therefore can be killed off permanently.
Some dental practices, such as those at clinics in some major cities, employ a technique known as pulsed light therapy. Using a low level laser, dentists can kill off some of the bacteria that cause bad breath by exposing the patient’s gums to high levels of energy (excited light). When the gel on the toothbrush is applied, it also excites the same area, and this excitation kills the bacteria. These oral procedures are becoming increasingly common in dentistry. However, the use of menthol as an antibacterial agent is still relatively new, and its full range of therapeutic effects is not yet known.
